Murray Olderman and The Draw of Sport

From a recent request for a review copy (thanks, Fantagraphics P.R.), I recently perused the new hardback book "The Draw of Sport" by Murray Olderman.

On its pages readers find nearly 120 illustrations Olderman created in the author's decades-spanning sports journalism career that started when the student newspaper at his undergrad alma matter Mizzou published one of his cartoons.

He went on to draw thousands of works of art inspired by countless experiences in the sports box on assignment from newspapers and the wire service for which he eventually managed sports coverage.

Readers learn Olderman's aspirations to write and illustrate sports began during his youth when his father brought home newspapers filled with sports cartoons in the days before photography and technology came to dominate athletic coverage.

I was intrigued by "The Draw of Sports" since it seemed if Olderman wrote and created images from the 1940s to recent years, he probably met an Olympian or two with some stories to share.

Jesse Owens appears in the cover art for this new book, and in the text describing the Owens portrait that Olderman sketched for a Games-centric magazine spread, readers learn Olderman perhaps also drew Olympians Jim Thorpe, Paavo Nurmi, Charley Paddock, Harrison Dillard and Bob Mathias on a special assignment tied to the 1952 Games.

The format for "The Draw of Sport" is consistent: Even pages feature a few paragraphs the author scribed from his memories of athlete encounters and interviews, with a matching cartoon on the facing odd page. Owens appears in the middle of Olderman's A to Z list book-ended by Atlanta Braves home run king Hank Aaron and 1932 Olympian Babe Zaharias.

"[In 1954] I actually met Jesse Owens at a luncheon at Toots Shor's on 52nd Street in Manhattan, the favorite sports hangout in the city," wrote Olderman on his Owens descriptor. "[He] was doing motivational speaking by then after varied ways trying to capitalize on his Olympic glory. I don't remember what company he was plugging, but do recall the staccato cadence of his speech."

Olderman described similar "I was in the room with ..." or "when I spoke to ..." Olympian encounters that pop up a few times in "The Draw of Sport" on narrative/illustration pairs for Muhammad Ali, Jean-Claude Killy, Jim Thorpe and Zaharias.

Olympic basketball's Ann Meyer (1976 -- appearing in a spread featuring her pro baseball husband Don Drysdale), Bill Russell (1956 in Melbourne) as well as 1960 team alternate John Havlicek also made the cut.

The Games appear in a handful of other narratives, but mostly to provide context on Olderman's reporting assignments rather than specific Olympians.

Kareem Abdul-Jabar, for instance, appears in "The Draw of Sport" for his basketball feats, but Olderman's illustration of the black boycott of the 1968 Games -- in which Abdul-Jabar participated before his NBA career -- did not show up on first glance (I found the rings illustration at left on MurrayOlderman.com and, later, on one of the section dividers in the new book).

Piecing together notes from the introduction and a few cartoon descriptions, it seems Olderman perhaps only touched the Games remotely in 1952, 1956 and 1960 but later traveled to the Olympics in 1968, which he described with some detail.

"Let's just say I had an edge on my American colleagues covering the Winter Games at Grenoble, where my focus was on Alpine events and a dashing young Frenchman who was swooping to a covey of gold medals," wrote Olderman of Killy. "[His] English was nil then [and] the interviews were conducted only in French.

"I was fairly fluent and could follow his explanations of navigating through the fog that embraced the slalom and downhill runs ... and passed them along to Jim Murray of the Los Angeles Times, the only other scribe who bothered to come out to the Olympic site."

While Olderman's work and collection are impressive, I was slightly let down that so few five-ringed athletes -- an only two female Olympians -- are in "The Draw of Sport."

With only a handful of Team USA athletes celebrated (and only one French gold medal skier), I was left wondering how Olderman reported on, say, Bruce Jenner in Montreal, or Olga Korbut and Nadia Comenici's gymnastic feats, or any of the legendary performances in Los Angeles 1984 (the only post-1960s Olympiad mentioned by Olderman was a vague reference to seeing Michael Jordan play for The Dream Team in 1992).

But then, by the 1970s fewer newspapers illustrated their sports coverage with hand-drawn art, perhaps explaining, if only indirectly, the absence of these later Olympic heroes.

In his editorial role, Olderman founded the Jim Thorpe Trophy presentation to top professional football players, paying homage to the 1912 Olympian who later excelled in multiple pro sports. The book's Thorpe tribute correctly references part of Thorpe's gold medal feats only to incorrectly state his "medal" (singular) was stripped (Thorpe won then lost then received again posthumously gold medals -- plural -- in decathlon and pentathlon).

But this is a forgivable error for a sports cartoon legend who was approaching his 95th birthday as "The Draw of Sport" was going to press.

I encourage sports fans old and young to get a dose of history through reading this Olderman collection. The cartoons provide a broad roundup of sports feats from the 20th century, and the author's stories bring them to life. A video from his grad school alma matter follows this post for more background on this sports writer and artist.

Images via Fantagraphics and MurrayOlderman.com

High Museum Missteps With Rise of Sneaker Culture

In recent years, I've been to three presentations by Michael Shapiro, the High Museum of Art's executive director from 2000 through July 2015. For the sake of disclosure, the High was a public relations client in 2005 and again from 2012 to 2015.

At all three of Shapiro's speeches, he stated the 1996 Cultural Olympiad exhibition "Rings: Five Passions of World Art" -- which the High presented during Atlanta's Olympics -- marked a major milestone and critical turning point (for the better) for the Southeast's premier museum of art. 

Shapiro's and his peer's remarks echo in news reports and in general Atlanta arts conversations; it seems that most people agree that "Rings" put the High on the map of art museums with which to be reckoned. 

Given this summer's 20th anniversary for both Atlanta's Games and the High's main ascension point, I thought for certain a commemoration might take place in step with next week's party for all things Olympic in Atlanta. 

And when the museum announced "Out of the Box: The Rise of the Sneaker Culture" as this summer's main exhibition, an Olympic or "Rings" commemoration seemed even closer to "shoe-in" status.

Sadly, upon finally visiting the exhibition yesterday, the certainty unlaced.

And the museum's lack of promotion for the exhibition's many five-ringed connections seems like a big-time missed opportunity (insert grating, high-pitched squeaks of rubber smudging basketball courts here).

Before shoehorning the good parts of "The Rise of Sneaker Culture" below, it's worth mentioning the lack of Olympic promotion rests not entirely at the High's feet. 

The exhibition is on tour, arriving from its source curators of the Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto by way of the first U.S. presentation at The Brooklyn Museum in New York last fall, and a winter stop at Ohio's Toledo Museum of Art. 

Much of the exhibition's content -- such as a 256-page catalog or the wall text (in this exhibition, at the toe or heel of each shoe's display space in horizontal glass cases) -- was written by non-Atlantans with less knowledge of Georgia's capital or the High's Olympic legacies.

Though the catalog is beautiful and chock-full of interesting facts, figures, specially-written contributions and gorgeous photos, the Olympic notes are riddled with copy errors. 

Specifically, on page 79 the section author, Bata Shoe Museum Senior Curator Elizabeth Semmelhack, incorrectly referenced "Gold medalist Heinz Fütterer ran in Pumas at the 1954 Olympics" (Fütterer golds were earned at the world championships in 1954, a non-Olympic year, and he won a team relay bronze at Melbourne's 1956 Olympiad).

More surprising: Beside of color photo of Mexico City Olympians Tommie Smith and John Carlos barefoot on the medal stand beside their suede Pumas, the author incorrectly reports that "At the medal ceremony, both athletes too off their black Suedes"

Somewhere, Elvis is joining me in musically admonishing Semmelhack because the photo has "blue, blue, blue suede shoes, baby!"

In the High, there's no mention of Smith nor Carlos and their iconic Olympic moment. Rather, the Suede Puma sample appears beside an signed orange version with the autograph of Atlanta-born NBA star Walt "Clyde" Frazier. Unmentioned in the catalog and exhibition: In 2008, Smith reportedly gave one of his 1968 Pumas to Usain Bolt as a birthday gift. 

The catalog copy errors hop over to page 218 with a reference to "Mohammad Ali" (it's Muhammad, thank u) as the inspiration for a rare Adidas sneaker design. 

Skip back to page 54 for a reference to Jesse Owens as "the winningest Olympian" up to 1936 (Finland's Paavo Nurmi won nine gold medals from 1920 to 1928).

Jump to the same page photo cutline to find it erroneously states Owens was "the first athlete to receive four gold medals in the Olympic Games" (Nurmi earned five golds at Paris in 1924). Does the researcher for this section still have a job?

Fortunately, here's what the exhibition gets right:

-- Display of a 1936 shoe like those presented to Owens in Berlin by Adolf "Adi" Dassler, founder of Adidas and brother of Puma founder Rudolph Dassler; I noticed more visitors stopped to study this shoe in detail, and one person even remembered the shoe scene depicted in the recent Owens biopic "Race"

-- Showcase of the aforementioned 1968 Puma blue Suede style akin to what Team USA gave Smith and Carlos in Mexico City. This shoe really does look cool

-- Numerous Nike and Air Jordan brand shoes donned by Michael Jordan just after his 1984 Olympic debut and later when he played for the Dream Team in 1992

-- Michael Johnson's gold Nike track spikes tailored to his specifications (one is a half-size larger than the other), worn at Atlanta Olympic Stadium 20 years ago

-- Autographed Fila Grant Hill II shoe worn in play at the 1996 Olympics at the Georgia Dome

-- Numerous other designs celebrating and mentioning Olympic basketball players Patrick Ewing (1984, 1992), Shaquille O'Neal (1996), Danny Manning (1988) and LeBron James (2004, 2008, 2012). But when you're looking at James' comical and colorful Stewie Griffin LeBron IV sneakers by Nike, don't expect to find mention of the player's 2016 MVP status for the Cleveland Cavaliers. 

-- Gold Puma X Undefeated Clyde Gametime Gold sneakers honoring 2012 Olympic basketball at London.

-- In the non-Olympic realm, I enjoyed the Roy Lichtenstein-inspired design, original Onitsuka Tiger Tai Chi lace-ups like those worn by Bruce Lee and Uma Thurman, Damien Hirst's contributions for a pair of Converse X, and a pair of rubber "overshoes" from Brazil circa the 1830s.

-- There's not an exhibition-specific app, but the museum presents some interesting video content about select shoes via the site SneakerHigh.org. The Owens footage is interesting, as is the No. 1 video regarding the anniversary of Reebok Pump Fury celebrated a few years ago. 

I do think that with so many shoes tied directly to the 1996 Atlanta Games, the High could or should have laced up some promotions, an infographic for sports fans, or an invitation for Johnson to revisit his donated gold shoes. 

The Brazilian shoes from 1830 even provide a potential shoe box feature tied to the Rio 2016 Olympics -- imagine, safety from rubbers!

With several Atlanta-based gold medalists such as current Wheaties box athletics champion Edwin Moses, NBA player and Olympian Dwight Howard, or high jumper Chaunté Lowe nearby, why not engage them for their footnotes on Olympic shoes?

Most of the sneakers are presented in one large gallery, with a smaller side gallery showcasing the more historic (translation: older) designs spanning the mid-1800s to the 1960s. Each shoe rests in place, so it's not possible to peer at every angle unless a design happens to be placed at a glass case end cap. 

Suggestion for future shoe exhibitions: Place the objets d'art atop motorized Lazy Susans for a fresh spin of the moccasin.

The bottom line: For readers considering museum options, "Out of the Box: The Rise of Sneaker Culture" is worth visiting for its wealth of shoe artistry. Ruminating on its potential for Atlanta Olympic ties for more than a year, I could not help but be disappointed on that front, but the sneakers on view do fill in many interesting footnotes on history.

With that said, I haven't been this perplexed/disappointed by a High exhibition since they mounted a 2011 assemblage titled "The Art of Golf" whose curator obliviously left out the two most influential modern golf and sports artists, Leroy Neiman and Bart Forbes, perhaps another example (prior to Bata's catalog researcher and copy editor errors) when curators jumped for "sports meets arts" but only tossed a brick or air ball.

"The Rise of Sneaker Culture" remains on view at the High though Aug. 11 before it stumbles into the Speed Art Museum in Louisville, Ky. Maybe while in "The Greatest" Ali's hometown they'll get the spelling right for Muhammad. 

Images via High.org and Bata Shoe Museum; Olympic photo credit TBD.

Kind Words For 'Race'

Movie buffs and Olympic fans are getting treated to several new five-ringed films this year, and next to hit the big screen is the Jesse Owens biopic "Race."

Focus Features hosted a star-studded Atlanta premiere earlier this month, and there are plenty of good reasons to experience this portrayal of an American and worldwide Olympic hero, and those forming his inner and outer circles of influence, on the road and boat to the Berlin 1936 Olympiad.

Ambassador Andrew Young, Chris Bridges (a.k.a. Ludacris), Regina Belle, Anthony David and Kim Fields were among the honored guests on site.

Rising track star and Rio Olympic hopeful Candace Hill also attended to enjoy what she called her first real red carpet experience. I was hoping to spot other Georgia Olympians, or the team from the upcoming documentary "Olympic Pride, American Prejudice" (a work in progress also featuring Owens) during the festivities.

Addressing the audience before the special screening, the actor in the title role, Stephan James, explained how he drew inspiration from the Olympic champion.

"Jesse Owens was a humanitarian," said James. "Of all things I learned about him, nothing [compared] to that aspect of his life."

James described Owens' courage to travel to Berlin as one of the first black Team USA Olympians also running against strong headwinds of Nazism in Germany and racism at home in the USA.

"I took it as a responsibility to bring a level of humanity to him and bring that to the screen," said James. "I hope [audiences] enjoy the film and they learn something from it, but most importantly I hope [they're] inspired the same way I was."

Through a red carpet interview informed by an Atlanta Journal-Constitution report, I asked James about his training for the film on the tracks at Georgia Tech during his time away from filming "Selma" (in which he portrayed a young Congressman John Lewis).

While responding, James also described how his study of "Olympia" -- the original Olympic film and award winning documentary by Leni Riefenstahl -- factored into his Owens performance. James seemed humbled by the opportunity to portray the gold medalist, and the actor's responses may be viewed here:

I liked "Race" not only for its attention to small Olympic details but also its script directly addressing race relations, leaving no doubt about the title's double entendre while subtly proving the premise of the "Avenue Q" song "Everyone's A Little Bit Racist Sometimes." Just about all of key characters in "Race" had strong though inappropriate words about their fellow man. 

Prepare to wriggle in your seat if you're uncomfortable with epithets like coon, cracker, darkie, eight ball, Kraut, the n-word or peckerwood. They're all in there, though not in succession as in the dugout confrontation of "42."

Some of the most honest conversations in "Race" are between Owens and his coach Larry Snyder (Jason Sudeikis). As the arc of their relationship evolves from coach:athlete to mentor:mentee then close friendship, their "tell it like it is" comfort levels increase, eventually shining as they defend each other to narrow-minded peers. This crescendos with the film's most direct statement on race (for a spoiler, see 1:35 to 1:45 of the trailer).

I think both characters grew from their open and direct conversations, and perhaps moviegoers may also. And, by the way, the second nod to a previous sports film comes through a few Sudeikis coaching scenes akin to Ian Holm in "Chariots of Fire."

If a goal of "Race" is to get audiences talking frankly about the topic race, the filmmakers succeeded -- the diverse premiere audience definitely shared conversations upon exiting the theatre. This writer sort of anticipated mention of Richard Pryor's response to Chevy Chase on "SNL" to creep into the post-screening banter.

I spoke with Ambassador Young, Fields and Belle about their observations.

Young described "Race" as "probably his favorite" Olympic movie because it took him back to his first lessons in race relations at age four. Conversing with me as the credits rolled, Young said his boyhood home street included some pre-WWII German neighbors who publicly saluted Hitler, and early newsreels of Jesse Owens' victory provided fodder for some father-son conversations.

"It taught me 'don't get mad, get smart!" said Young, who added that he never met Owens or his family members, but he did serve in Congress with Owens' teammate/Olympic gold medalist Ralph Metcalfe.

Fields, who was emcee for a brief in-theatre presentation for James, said she enjoyed the film. The "Facts of Life" star who now resides in Atlanta thought it would be an inspiration for many, as did Belle, who answered a few questions on camera, specifically citing one of the film's best lines about freedom and sport relevant to anyone's chosen passion.

Returning to attention to detail in "Race," a few other finer points are notable.

For the second or third time in recent film history (following "Unbroken" and "Berlin 36"), the German Olympiastadion is vividly brought to life through rich, modern animation.

An over-the-shoulder lens follows Owens through the vomitory and onto the field with 100,000 seated fans. This long take seamlessly presents an on-screen Owens transformation from national track star to international icon. This I liked, and many in the audience gasped at the stadium views inclusive of the 1936 Olympic cauldron.

I also enjoyed how everything from Riefenstahl's camera angles and lipstick to the long jump judges' correct Olympic pin and ribbon colors really popped. Earlier, during the opening scenes, there's an homage to "Rocky" with Owens taking a training run through depression era Cleveland. Everyone's got the right pinstripe suit, hat and rumble seat sedan, proving the costume and set decoration teams did their homework.

They even put an Olympic oak seedling in Jesse's hands during his medal ceremony, accurately depicting the special takeaway gift presented to each winner of gold, silver and bronze (the fate of many Olympic oaks was documented by an International Association of Olympic Historians member, with at least one Owens oak still possibly alive at his his high school or college alma mater, Ohio State University).

The hand-held seedlings got a lot of surprised responses from the audience: "A tree?!?" and "What's Jesse going to do with a tree?"

Where I took issue with "Race" is through the broad and purely fictional liberties taken by the writers to showcase the politicking of Team USA and Third Reich. If the filmmakers went out of their way to get the right lapel pins on the actors, why create such preposterous scenes on other Olympic fronts?

The most outlandish set up features multiple conversations during which Riefenstahl, the documentary filmmaker, personally translates conversations between Joseph Goebbels and Avery Brundage, the German propaganda minister and the U.S. Olympic Committee delegate, respectively. Ridiculous!

These scenes seemed false on a level akin to another purely fictional Olympic film character, the so-called "Olympic shooter from Syria" written into "American Sniper" for distracting-to-this-blogger dramatic effect (more on that fiction here). More forgivable but perhaps just as fictional are post-race scenes during which Hitler snubbed Owens (facts still debated my many historians).

Two casting choices -- specifically regarding Jeremy Irons and William Hurt -- struck me funny as well.

While Irons' CV is chock-full of douche bag villain roles (his love to hate them characters in "Lolita," "Reversal of Fortune," "Damage" and "Margin Call" among my favorites), and I get it that Irons as Brundage is a new addition to the list, it seemed to me the balding William Hurt, who also played some jerks (see "Broadcast News," "Mr. Brooks" and "A History of Violence") had a better hair line match to Brundage.

Instead, Irons dons the spectacles and Hurt carries his tail between his legs as Jeremiah Mahoney, the U.S. athletics official who -- at least in the script for "Race" -- failed to sway votes for a 1936 Olympic boycott (more creative writing liberties, I suspect -- though the boycott vote did take place it's doubtful such speeches were uttered by those in attendance).

Two German performers shine as Riefenstahl and Goebbels, who share some verbal fencing just as directy as Owens and Snyder.

Barnaby Metschurat filled his S.S. costume with stern angst, and Carise van Houten dished out some clever schadenfreude for Hitler's closest minion.

"This is my Olympics," said Goebbels, to which Riefenstahl aptly retorted, "This is my film; without it, your Olympics will be forgotten in one year!"

Other brief notes: Though the exact duration of the film is not yet published, audiences may wish to pace themselves for a marathon not a sprint to the finish.

Also, the soundtrack to "Race" leaves a bit to be desired -- seemed like a missed opportunity for the filmmakers to engage Vangelis, John Williams or one of several talented African American composers for a stronger score (the team at Back Lot Music just didn't come through on this one).

I was very impressed by Stefan James filling some big Olympian shoes** in "Race." This was his second five-ringed film (he previously appeared in the made for television movie "The Gabby Douglas Story") and it hopefully will be the first of many major roles for James' career.

One key scene in the rain, during which Owens stares with optimism at the woman he hopes to marry, resembled the Pulitzer Prize winning photo of President Obama gazing into a challenging future, and down the road I think James could fill the shoes of our commander-in-chief on film.

Might also be fun to see James again in the eventual "Carl Lewis Story" or "Bolt -- Usain's Journey" down the road. Until then, my suggestion is to run, don't walk, to see "Race."

Premiere event photos and videos by Nicholas Wolaver. Hurt-Brundage-Irons images via IMDB. Stills and posters from "Race" via Focus Features.

**A pair of Jesse Owens' shoes may be on view in the upcoming High Museum of Art exhibition "Out of the Box: The Rise of Sneaker Culture" opening June 11; the exhibition catalog features images of a pair of Owens' spikes. "Race" includes a curious reference to these shoes via Coach Snyder clumsily trying to locate Adidas founder one night in Berlin -- another fictionalized, albeit interesting, Olympic trivia element in the film.

Olympic Rings To Fill Silver Screens In 2016

With all the recent attention on "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" and other big films opening for the holidays, some previews are popping up for new Olympic-themed features set to open in 2016.

Not since Leni Riefenstahl assigned her crews 80 years ago have there been so many filmmakers with an eye and lens on Olympic action.

Here's a look at the big studio releases and smaller potential gems with a five-ringed connections coming soon to a theatre near you:

Title: "Race"
Release Date: 19 February 2016
Website: www.FocusFeatures.com/Race
Production/Distributor: Focus Features
On screen: Stephan James, Jeremy Irons, Jason Sudeikis, William Hurt, Carice van Houton
Off screen: Stephen Hopkins (director)

Description: Tailored to the masses fresh look at Jesse Owens and his journey from rural Alabama to the world's stage at the Berlin Olympics. Title is a double (or perhaps triple) entendre about Owens' running prowess, the color of his skin and (hinted by the previews) a "race against time" for the track star to decide whether to compete for Team USA in spite of obvious discrimination in its ranks and Germany's emerging Aryan aspirations.

Curious facts: According to IMDB, the title role originally went to John Boyega, who backed out to appear in "Star Wars: The Force Awakens." Jeremy Irons will play the role of U.S. Olympic chief Avery Brundage, an official likely to appear in two of the upcoming Olympic documentaries listed later in this post.

Olympic Rings And Other Things prediction: Film will entertain with a new, crowd-pleasing spin on Owens' feats while disappointing the fact checkers who call to question the fictionalized bio for the sake of tension/drama (sort of like in the film version of "Unbroken").

Title: "The Bronze"
Release Date: 11 March 2016
Website: SonyClassics.com/TheBronze
Production/Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics
On screen: Melissa Rauch, Gary Cole, Haley Lu Richardson, Cecily Strong
Off screen: Bryan Buckley (director)

Description: Comedy about a twentysomething Olympic bronze medal gymnast "putting the nasty in gymnastics" whose star is falling while a younger athlete's profile is on the rise in the same small Ohio town they call home.

Curious Facts: Gary Cole is often quoted for the TPS Report-loving manager he portrayed in "Office Space." Since the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, several Team USA women's gymnastics Olympians took home bronze medals, including: Mary Lou Retton (1984 uneven bars, floor exercise), Kathy Johnson (1984 balance beam), Phoebe Mills (1988 balance beam), Shannon Miller (1992 uneven bars,), Amy Chow (1996 uneven bars), Dominique Dawes (1996 floor exercise), Courtney Kupets (2004 uneven bars), Nastia Liukin (2008 floor exercise) and Alexandra Raisman (2012 balance beam). In 1948, Team USA earned a bronze in the "team combined" women's gymnastics events in 1948 London, 1992 Barcelona and 2000 Sydney.

Olympic Rings And Other Things prediction: Future cult classic and solid scores for F-bomb vaulting.

Title: "Eddie The Eagle"
Release Date: 26 February 2016
Website: www.FoxMovies.com/movies/Eddie-the-Eagle
Production/Distributor: 20th Century Fox/Lionsgate
On screen: Taron Egerton, Hugh Jackman, Christopher Walken
Off screen: Dexter Fletcher (director), Matthew Vaughn, Adam Bohling, David Reid, Rupert Maconick and Valerie Van Galder

Description: Highly fictionalized version of events leading to the world famous British ski jumper's Olympic debut at the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics.

Curious Facts: In a BBC interview, the athlete on which the film is based said, "I've been warned only 10 to 15 percent of it is based on my life."

Olympic Rings And Other Things prediction: Future boxed set with the other Calgary Games comedy "Cool Runnings."

Title: "Munich 72 And Beyond"
Release Date: TBD
Website: www.MunichMemorial.org
Production: Foundation for Global Sports Development, Crisman Films
On screen: Surviving family members from 1972 Israel Olympic Team
Off screen: Stephen Crisman (director)

Description: According to the official site, the film will, "... capture the story of the Munich Memorial, and create an unflinching, elegant and timely examination of contemporary remembrance. The film will revisit Munich's history and bring it to a contemporary moment through intimate interviews and access to those involved. The film will also follow the construction of the Memorial ... with blueprints and renowned architects as guides.

Curious facts: The New York Times wrote up new revelations to be discussed in the film, and Around The Rings aired a podcast interview about the project. The 40th anniversary of the Munich Olympic attack is covered here. 

Olympic Rings And Other Things prediction: Surviving family member inch closer to closure while the Oscar-winning "One Day In September" (documentary which covers the same topic) proves tough to beat.

Title: "Olympic Pride, American Prejudice"
Release Date: TBD
Website: www.1936OlympicsMovie.com
Production: Coffee Bluff Pictures
On screen: Blair Underwood (narrator), Carl Lewis, Isaiah Thomas
Off screen: Deborah Riley Draper (director)

Description: Documentary exploring the 18 black American athletes (including Jesse Owens) and the discrimination they faced at home before, during and after they competed in the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

Curious facts: Draper, who is based in Atlanta, previously created the documentary "Versailles '73: American Runway Revolution."

Olympic Rings And Other Things prediction: Audiences will be treated to an accurate and detailed look at what Team USA's black athletes endured in spite of their accomplishments.

Title: "Roads to Olympia"
Release Date: TBD
Website: www.RoadsToOlympia.com
Production: Beacon Revolt
On screen: Daniel Alexander
Off screen: Ramazan Nanayev (director/writer)

Description:  "Weaving between Russia, Saudi Arabia and South America ... a dark yet truly empowering story that follows young people testing their strength and endurance, as athletes and as people, while the attempt to achieve their dreams."

Curious facts: Like "Olympic Pride, American Prejudice" this film was funded in-part through a public campaign via Seed & Spark.

Olympic Rings And Other Things prediction: Effective international version of "Race" portraying athletes overcoming oppression, poverty and intolerance due to ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation.

Images courtesy of the respective film production companies or distributors listed in this post. 

Help Bring Olympic History to Light on the Silver Screen in Time for 2016

Olympic movie and history buffs have an opportunity to help get a potential five-ringed gem to the silver screen in time for next year's film festival season and the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

Through the crowdfunding site Seed & Spark, now through March 17, anyone may contribute funds to help complete the documentary "Olympic Pride, American Prejudice" by Atlanta-based filmmaker Deborah Riley Draper, whose team seeks to bring to light the seldom-heard stories of African American Olympians who competed at the 1936 Berlin Olympiad.

For more specifics on the donation process, click the links above or scroll to the base of this post, post-haste.

Paraphrasing the film synopsis: "Olympic Pride, American Prejudice" will be a feature length documentary exploring the trials and triumphs of 18 African American athletes who represented Team USA in Germany.

Set against the strained and turbulent atmosphere of a racially divided America -- torn between boycotting Hitler’s Olympics and participating in the Third Reich’s grandest feat of propaganda -- the film follows 16 men and two women as they prepared for, traveled to, competed in and returned from Berlin.

With an Olympian-level blend of grace and dignity, these athletes represented a nation that considered them second class citizens, and their competitions took place in a nation that rolled out the red carpet in spite of an undercurrent of Aryan superiority and anti-Semitism.

I spoke with Riley Draper, who explained the idea for the film started with research of a jazz singer from Chattanooga who later was reportedly interned by the Nazis. Articles on the musician included references to African American Olympians who competed in Berlin, and as Riley Draper gained some Olympic experiences and interest during a U.S. Track & Field assignment at the 1996 Atlanta Games, the seldom-heard stories of these athletes stuck with her.

Though many know the story of Jesse Owens' feats on the track in Berlin, the other 17 black athletes'
experiences are known to comparatively few.

"I wanted to bring to light these heroes who created a precursor to the Civil Rights Movement," said Riley Draper.

Research for "Olympic Pride, American Prejudice" yielded that the 18 athletes came from across the U.S., with attendance at big colleges as a common thread among the "great student athletes" selected for Team USA. Some medaled in Berlin, though with considerably less fanfare than Owens.

Riley Draper said some of the athletes also made the cut, while more did not, for the original Olympic documentary film, Leni Riefenstahl's "Olympia." And in one case, the German filmmaker
stirred the political pot in the 1936 Cultural Olympiad by displaying images of black U.S. athletes she snapped as artsy photographs during her trip to the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics.

One U.S. athlete set as part of the new film is Jack Wilson, the silver medalist in boxing. Another is Archie Williams, who won gold in the 400m race.

And in high jump, Cornelius Johnson and David Albritton earned gold and silver, respectively, while teammate Delos Thurber also made the podium for bronze (a clean sweep). As rising stars, Albritton and Owens lived parallel lives as rural Alabama natives who succeeded on the track.

I personally look forward to learning more about Johnson and all of the athletes to be profiled through “Olympic Price, American Prejudice.”

Back to the film’s synopsis: "The athletes experienced things that they were not expecting -- applause, warm welcomes, an integrated Olympic Village and the respect of their competitors. They were heroes on the world’s stage who returned home to find only short-lived glory. Their story is complicated … a vital part of history as relevant today as it was almost 80 years ago."

Riley Draper and her team plan to “utilize the wealth of newsreel material, newspaper articles, photographs, personal interviews and never-before-seen footage as well as resources from the personal archival collections of Olympians and Foundations in both the U.S. and Germany.”

She also said research to date included a wealth of detail provided by archives managed by the LA84 Foundation, the National Archives and the Avery Brundage Collection at the University of Illinois.

When I asked the extent to which the International Olympic Committee/Olympic Museum, U.S. Olympic Committee, International Society of Olympic Historians (ISOH) or travels to other domestic or international archives are on the filmmaker’s wish list (as part of their fundraising goals), Riley Draper said she was open to additional sources but travel to Berlin to capture in-stadium footage -- and more interviews of surviving athletes or spectators -- tops the list.

The crowdfunding site lists several types of equipment needs, expenses for everything from insurance and narration to image licensing, and travel items.

Donations of as little as $1 or in the form of Delta Air Lines SkyMiles are accepted, and donor who provide at higher levels may opt-in to pre-release perks (including an on-screen credit as a supporter). For readers who choose to contribute, please consider doing so by selecting this blog and/or blogger as the source providing referral to Seed & Spark.

Thank you for your part in bringing “Olympic Pride, American Prejudice” to the big screen. Additional information is also available via the film’s official site, 1936OlympicsMovie.com.

Images via www.1936OlympicsMovie.com

American Experience: Jesse Owens

A few weeks back a couple of friendly publicists for the popular PBS program "American Experience" emailed me to ask if I'd be interested in previewing the new documentary "Jesse Owens" set to premiere nationally on May 1.

Hello! Twist my arm!

"American Experience" is a longtime favorite in the Wolaver home. Outstanding programs. Their series "New York: A Documentary Series by Ric Burns" is an all-time great for Public Broadcasting.

So without hesitation I accepted the opportunity to view "Jesse Owens."

This is not the first film featuring the 1936 Olympic champion. In 1984 there was a made for TV mini-series "The Jesse Owens Story" which was, on the heels of "Chariots of Fire," among the first Olympic films I watched. In the 28 years since, there were other Jesse Owens tributes and specials, and a few years ago I stopped in rural Oakville, Ala., at the Jesse Owens Museum.

And of course, Owens appears in the original Olympic documentary film "Olympia" by Leni Riefenstahl, with several clips from this sports photography masterpiece appearing in the current "American Experience" program.

The new "Jesse Owens" feature comes to us from the team of Laurens Grant and Stanley Nelson, the producers of the Emmy winning documentary "Freedom Riders." They did a nice job with the new documentary, though with a few quirks.

It struck me funny that Owens' first eight years -- among 10 siblings residing in rural Alabama -- received only one mention of the Southern state, with no footage of his hometown museum; the filmmakers instead noted Cleveland as the launching point for the Owens story.

I also had a bone to pick with the film's one odd visual: The opening sequence included some interesting X-ray footage (early black and white X-ray films of bones and joints showcasing movement). "Were these Owens' bones?" I pondered, wondering the source of the skeletal footage (still scratching my head ... why was this inserted?).

With these two initial observations noted, the film quickly got to the Owens tale many already know.

We learn about his early track days, coaches and initial success juxtaposed with racial inequality that was the norm of his time, with Owens denied restaurant service and hotel accommodations -- and even an on-campus dorm room -- due to segregation.

We're also introduced to Owens fans who were his contemporaries, including U.S. Olympic Teammates Iris Cummings Critchell (swimming) and Louis Zamperini (athletics), as well as Berlin Olympiad spectators Theodor Michael and Hilmar Dressler, who read about Owens in German newspapers during the buildup to the Games. There's also the great sportsmanship shared by Owens and German long jump rival Carl "Luz" Long, who famously walked arm in arm after receiving their Olympic medals, an Olympic-sized flipping of the bird to Hitler and all he stood for in front of the world.

One thing I learned in this documentary was how the NAACP encouraged Owens to speak out against Team USA heading to Berlin at all. But after Owens brought up this opposition, many of the key influencers of the time, including his own coach and American Olympic Committee leader Avery Brundage, quickly quashed the track star's anti-Games remarks.

This was not the last time Brundage and others overruled Owens and teammates, as viewers learn of Games-time politics and post-Olympic promotions that Owens endured for several months, ultimately denying him many opportunities to cash in on his success.

Sidebar: Brundage is a controversial figure in Olympic history worthy of his own "American Experience" documentary -- in this "Jesse Owens" film, Brundage is painted in a negative light, cast perhaps unfairly with near-Hitler-level "bad guy" status, without noting enough context about Brundage's multiple hats for the IOC, AOC and AAU while delving into his perspectives on Jewish athletes -- I write this not in defense of Brundage's reprehensible actions; rather, to encourage viewers and readers of this blog to absorb the "Jesse Owens" Brundage footage and voiceovers with a grain of salt, or to learn more about Brundage beyond the film.

Another key learning from "American Experience: Jesse Owens" was Owens' main pre-Games competition, a runner named Eulace Peacock (if NBC was the host broadcaster for the 1936 Olympics, where television debuted, they would have had a field day given their winged logo). Unfortunately, Peacock -- named by the AP as the gold medal favorite for Berlin -- was denied a spot on Team USA due to an injury.

The film also notes Thomas Wolfe's perspectives on the Games as he attended the Opening Ceremony and track competitions as a celebrity guest. Zamperini also tells of the unfortunate aftermath of cannon fire (during the opening ceremony) which startled thousands of peace doves, er, pigeons released above the athletes who marched into the stadium. It was fun to see some of my fellow members of the International Society of Olympic Historians on the small screen.

An interesting visual element during the Berlin sequences: Animation using iconic Olympic posters for the Berlin Games. The producers also converted several still photos into animation, an appealing move that brought to life several of Owens' races.

The film concludes with a brief sequence of Owens' post-Games activities, which saw him fade into obscurity for decades before desegregation and renewed Olympic and U.S. patriotism brought him back into the limelight during the 1960s and 1970s.

I enjoyed the "Jesse Owens" feature for "American Experience" and it is worth one's time to tune in to local PBS stations. One of the best things about "American Experience" is that the series always inspires me to do more of my own research, and that is true of the "Jesse Owens" documentary.

In preparing this Olympic blog post, for instance, I learned more about Wolfe, and that Peacock (also from a rural Alabama town) and  Owens later opened a business together, according to this biography. I also learned that Owens opened his own public relations firm in Chicago, according to this timeline (in step with Dan Edelman, founder of the world's largest independent P.R. firm, my former employer). These fun facts did not make it to the final version of "American Experience: Jesse Owens" but I am thankful the documentary led me to learn these details.

Photos via this link, this link and this link

Screen The Dream Opens Nov. 15

In Atlanta, The King Center announced this week that the nonprofit will launch its "Screen The Dream" film series on Nov. 15 with the award winning documentary "A Small Act" at 7:30 p.m. in the Center's auditorium.

According to the press release and the website for the 2009 film, "A Small Act" tells the tale of a Swedish woman and a life she changed.

"When Hilde Back sponsored a young, rural Kenyan student, she thought nothing of it. She certainly never expected to hear from him, but years later she does. Now a Harvard graduate and a Human Rights Lawyer for the United Nations, Chris Mburu decides to find the stranger that changed his life. Inspired by her generosity, he starts a scholarship program of his own and names it for his former benefactor."

This description reminded me of the letters sent to a young Tanzanian boy -- Ndugu Umbohe -- adopted by the retired Nebraska insurance executive (Jack Nicholson) in "About Schmidt."

I hope the organizers of this new "Screen The Dream" film series may consider some Olympic-themed films, such as "Chariots of Fire" or "The Jesse Owens Story," in which themes of equal treatment for all are explored.

More details about the Atlanta and other screenings are available online. Enjoy the show!

Photo via this site

News of Olympic Parks, Press and Putin

The Chicago Tribune's Washington Bureau (a.k.a. The Swamp) and other outlets report that a presidential advance team will embark to Copenhagen to "keep options open" for President Obama to speak to the International Olympic Committee. This is a tremendous boost for the Chicago 2016 Olympic bid team, for sure.

Only 11 days remain until the big vote.

In other news, in New York, Olympic gold medalist and "Dancing With The Stars" champ Shawn Johnson took to the air on Fox News yesterday, talking about her support of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. Her media training skills keep improving with each interview.

Back in Chicago, this past week's Olympic headlines were capped with the opening of the new Jesse Owens Olympic Park presented by Allstate. Long-term good news for the city. Read all about it.

And speaking of Olympic parks, here's some news about the London 2012 Olympic park getting some visitors.

Even the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic team had Olympic park news this week, with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin visiting some big cats with IOC member Jean-Claude Killy. Meow!